Rend Lake

Rend Lake
Location Franklin / Jefferson counties, Illinois, U.S.
Coordinates 38°2′12.18″N 88°58′0.25″W / 38.0367167°N 88.9667361°W / 38.0367167; -88.9667361Coordinates: 38°2′12.18″N 88°58′0.25″W / 38.0367167°N 88.9667361°W / 38.0367167; -88.9667361
Type Reservoir
Primary inflows Big Muddy River
Casey Creek
Primary outflows Big Muddy River
Basin countries United States
Max. length 13 miles (20.9 km)
Max. width 3 miles (4.8 km)
Surface area 18,900 acres (76.5 km2)
Average depth 9.7 feet (3.0 m)
Max. depth 35 feet (10.7 m)
Shore length1 162 miles (260.7 km)
Surface elevation 405 feet (123.4 m)
Settlements Benton, Illinois
Sesser, Illinois
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Rend Lake is a 13 miles (20.9 km)-long, 3 miles (4.8 km)-wide southern Illinois reservoir in Franklin and Jefferson Counties near Benton, Illinois. The lake contains 18,900 acres (76 km²) of water, stores 185,000 acre feet (228,000,000 m3) of water, and supplies over 15 million gallons of water per day to 300,000 persons in over 60 communities. The reservoir is up to 35 feet (10.7 m) deep, but its average depth is closer to 9.7 feet (3.0 m). Its elevation is 405 feet (123.4 m) above sea level.

View of Rend Lake, taken from the Eastern side.

Rend Lake is a reservoir, created when the United States Army Corps of Engineers dammed the Big Muddy River. The dam and lake were authorized in 1962, but the lake was not completely filled until March 1973.

The lakeshore of Rend Lake extends covers 162 miles (261 km), part of which is preserved as Wayne Fitzgerrell State Recreation Area. Swimming beaches at North Marcum and South Sandusky are managed and maintained by the US Army Corps of Engineers. An adjacent Illinois Artisans Shop & Visitors Center is part of the Illinois State Museum system and is operated by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. (This facility is currently closed due to lack of funding from the state.)

In 2010, Rend Lake was designated as an Important Bird Area of Illinois.[1]

View of spillway at Rend Lake, taken from the Eastern side.

Fishing

Rend Lake is one of the largest lakes in Illinois and is home to some of the top ranked fishing. The Recognized species in Rend Lake are the following :

Species Name Avg. Weight Avg. Length
Largemouth Bass 3-5 Lbs. 17-22 in
Crappie 0.5-1.5 Lbs. 6-12 in
Bluegill 0.5-1.0 Lbs. 6-10 in
Channel Catfish 10-20 Lbs. 25-35 in
Flathead Catfish 15-30 Lbs. 30-38 in
Blue catfish 15-35 Lbs. 30-40 in
Carp 9-19 Lbs. 20-35 in
White bass 2-4 Lbs. 15-20 in

References

  1. ↑ "Illinois Important Bird Areas". Chicago Wilderness. Retrieved 2010-02-16.


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 7/25/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.